A Living Trust is a document which establishes a form of ownership over property specifying who is to control the Trust and who is to receive property upon your death. Unlike a Will, a Living Trust can be for more than one person so a couple can have a single Living Trust for both of them. Since a Living Trust is a form of ownership, it is necessary to specify what property is to be included in the trust. This can entail changing title of property to that of the Trust. An example of this would be a house changing the name from “John Jones” to “The John Jones Living Trust”. As a Living Trust is a separate form of ownership, property that is part of the Trust is not part of the Estate Property. This can minimize or eliminate the need for Probate court involvement later on.
A Will is a written document specifying how your desires for
how your Estate Property is to be divided upon your death. This is apart from a
Living Trust as it does not change the form of ownership only specified what
you wish to be done with the property. For this reason all property owned that
is to be divided by the Will is part of your Estate Property.
The Will can divide property in any way you wish to anyone
you wish. It does not have to be equal and those you leave property to does not
have to be related to you. If one may be a minor, it is important to name one
to act as a Trustee for this minor until they reach the age of majority.
The types of division can be specific, such as leaving a
particular piece of property to a person, or general such as “all my furniture”
as an example. It can also be the money value of a piece of property that you
wish to be sold which can be divided in any way you wish, equally or unequally,
to one or more beneficiaries.
A Will can also work along with a Living Trust with a
provision that names property to go to the trust including any unnamed property
known as “residue of the estate”.
In addition to property, a Will can specify your wishes as
to care for a minor child and provision for pet care.